Why The Redskins Should Not Change Their Name

Recently, the Redskins name has received a lot of controversy. It is not a new item, but one that has been discussed for years. However, it seems to have picked up a lot of steam lately and it seems to be the top priority of Nevada Senator Harry Reid.
Why Now?
Why all of a sudden is it an issue?
Why can it be okay for so long, but we need to take a stand now?

There are two main issues here for why it is important now.
1) Harry Reid is looking for low hanging fruit heading into the 2016 elections. He is the senate leader for the democrats and he wants to continue to push the race narrative against Republicans. Reid sees the Redskins name change as low hanging fruit to push that agenda.
2) The need to feel affected. Even though 90% of Native Americans do not consider the name offensive and many Native Americans use the nickname Redskins themselves, there are many people who need to feel affected and offended for Native American people.
Before we get into this though, let's get into the history behind the Redskins name and the Redskins franchise.

George Marshall chose the name "Redskins" to honor his then coach, William "Lone Star" Dietz who happened to be Native American. The team employed a Native American man and tried to honor him. Marshall also had several Native American players on the team at the time that the team took on the new name. They changed it from Braves at the time because so many teams were also named Braves. The name was in no way meant to disrespect a group of people, especially one that was heavily employed by the team.

The earliest citation of the term "Redskin" can be traced back to Meskwaki Chief Black Thunder. He wrote the term in a letter to explorer William Clark. Some of these speeches by Black Thunder can be found here. I will copy and paste the one that is in question.
“My Father—Restrain your feelings, and hear calmly what I shall say. I shall tell it to you
plainly, I shall not speak with fear and trembling. I feel no fear. I have no cause to fear. I have
never injured you, and innocence can feel no fear. I turn to all, red skins and white skins, and
challenge an accusation against me."

Now, I do not find him using the term white skin offensive and he was one of the people who coined the term red skin, so obviously he doesn't find that offensive

Additionally, linguist (a personally who studies language) Ives Goddard has said about the name when it it first appeared in the 1800s, "it came in the most respectful context and at the highest level. These are white people and Indians talking together, with the white people trying to ingratiate themselves."

It came out of respect and was not meant to be disparaging. We do not need to make it disparaging. Language study and the origin of the word show it was not intended to be racial or offensive in any way. I trust Ives Goddard over Harry Reid. Here is more about Goddard's observation.

Now, let's look deeper about the Redskins team history to see if we can find out what these horrible people do to oppress people. 

During the 1987-1988 season, the Redskins had Doug Williams at quarterback. Doug Williams promptly became the 1st black quarterback to win the Super Bowl. Williams remained the only black quarterback to win a Super Bowl until this past season when Russell Wilson won it. Williams recently accepted a position with the Redskins in their front office after the mess at Grambling. Good thing, the Redskins were able to prevent Williams from succeeding because they were so racist. Good thing, they didn't let him blaze a trail and accomplish something never done before. Good thing, he was prevented from realizing his dream and they discriminated him. Those racist bastards.....

(Photo Credit: CBS Sports)

Did you guys happen to see the NFL Network Documentary on Jerry Smith?

Smith was a tight end for the Redskins from 1965-1977 and made two Pro-Bowls. He also happens to be the best known gay football player in NFL history. Smith played for a guy by the name of Vince Lombardi. Lombardi had a gay brother and made it known that gays would be welcome on his team. While none of them came out until after their careers, it is now known that there were 3 gay players who were on that team. Some teammates and Lombardi had to know. However, since the Redskins foster such an environment of hate, it is just a coincidence that 3 of the 7 players in NFL history to come out after their playing careers happened to play for the Redskins coach that was openly supportive. 3 players still embraced by the Washington fans were truly discriminated against by this racist organization.

Look, you can tell and I can tell that this team and organization are not racist. They were not founded on a racist belief and they are not racist today. We can also tell that the majority of Native Americans do not care about the Redskins nickname. However, some politicians and people that need to be affected continue to make it an issue. Some people continue to be offended for others. Some people lead false crusades. Therefore, I say it is really time to stick it to these people.

Really, the issue here is the Native American imagery. If we get rid of that, there is nothing to talk about. Harry Reid will have to talk about the horrible job he is doing and why Cowboy poetry sessions need to be funded by the government. Congressmen on both sides of the aisle will have to focus on more important issues. The people that need to feel affected will feel like morons hopefully. Most importantly though the Redskins will not really be giving in. I also predict that if they do this, they will pass the Cowboys as the most popular franchise. They will certainly gain a new fan in me. 

Mr. Snyder, 

It's time to go potato.

-Noland